Research Opportunities
Our residents have used their research experiences as a foundation for a career of pursuing the great questions of modern medicine. They regularly present their findings at conferences and publish in scholarly journals.
Our physician researchers ask the kinds of questions that help move laboratory discoveries to innovative new treatments in the clinical setting.
Learn more about our department’s research here:
The importance of research
Research is an important part of the daily activities of all academic surgeons. The commitment to research and teaching is what distinguishes the academic surgeon from their colleague in non academic practice.
Research benefits our patients and community by improving care. It creates an atmosphere of open and rigorous inquiry, constant questioning, and intellectual stimulation.
Opportunities
There are numerous opportunities to become involved in basic science and clinical research.
Research Laboratories include:
- Transplant
- Gastrointestinal Surgery
- Minimally-invasive
- Bariatric Surgery
- Surgical Oncology
- Endocrine
Residents interested in basic science can spend two years in the lab devoted to research, which leads to the development of many projects that are presented at regional and national meetings. Additionally, many of our faculty members perform clinical research and welcome resident participation. Please use the following link for information concerning research within the Department of Surgery.
Finally, the general surgery residency training program allows three of our residents after their PGY2 year to step out for two years. These two years are flexible and can be dedicated to two years of research; a combination of a fellowship and research; completing a graduate degree such as an MBA or a Masters in Medical Education or other practical options. After completing these two years, the resident transitions back into the program at the PGY3 level.
Our Facilities
Our laboratory complex includes animal operating rooms and laboratories, completely staffed and equipped to carry out nine animal procedures simultaneously.
Our specialty laboratories include:
- Peripheral vascular
- Gastric motility
- Analytical chemistry
- Transplant, neurosurgery
- Tissue culture
- Surgical bacteriology
- Kidney preservation
- Shock units.
In a typical year, more than 1,000 experimental procedures are performed in the laboratories. The facilities permit study of such experimental procedures as heart valve replacement in large animals and bile duct cannulation studies in guinea pigs and heterotopic heart transplantation in mice and rats. There is also active research in surgical oncology, studying the sequence of mutations and the localization of predisposition genes for cancers.
Research Presentations
Our residents completing basic science, clinical research, or both, have successfully submitted abstracts to present at local, regional, and national meetings. Both platform and poster presentations have been given at meetings hosted by the Academic Surgical Congress, American Burn Association, American Colleges of Surgeons, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, Society of Surgical Oncology, and many others.
Selected titles of presentations (2017-2018)
- Outcomes for Gastrostomy Placement in the Setting of Pediatric Peritoneal Dialysis
- Biologic Effects and Long-Term Outcomes in Neonatal Gastroschisis (BELONG) Study
- Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy with Immediate Reconstruction: A Safe and Effective Option for Overweight and Obese Women?
- MnT4MPyP Enhances Ascorbate-Induced Radiosensitization in Pancreatic Cancer (PDAC)
- Ascorbate Decreases Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) in Mice
- Treatment & Prognosis of Rectal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Analysis of the National Cancer Database
- Invasive Fungal Infections in Burns
- A population-based Validation of the New AJCC Subclassification of Anal Squamous Cell Cancer Stage II A and B
- The Pancreas as a Site of Metastasis or Second Primary in Patients with Small Bowel Neuroendocrine Tumors
- Effective Cytoreduction Can Be Achieved in Patients with Numerous Neuroendocrine Tumor Liver Metastases
- A Population-based Validation of the Notch Activation in Endothelial Cells by the S. Aureus Toxin HLA Circumvents Transcription of Canonical Downstream Targets
- A 5-year Longitudinal Study of Factors Influencing Surgery as a Career Choice in Medical Students: Analysis of the First Cohort from the Start of Medical School to Matriculation
- Risk Factors for 30-day Readmission Following Adrenalectomy
- Genetic Testing in Breast Cancer Patients: Do Mutations Other than BRCA Make a Difference in Surgical Decision Making?
- Pediatric Trauma Center Verification Improves Clinical Care and Reduces Charges in Children with Blunt Splenic Injury
- The Impact of Patient Demographics vs. Tumor Factors on the Prognosis of Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treated with Standard Chemoradiation Therapy.
- The Equivalence of Short-term Perioperative Outcomes Among Pediatric Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic and Open Ileoanal Pouch Anastomosis
- The Impact of Multiagent Chemoradiation Treatment vs. Radiation With or Without Monoagent Chemotherapy on the Prognosis of Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma